Eye of Samsara
by Kasek
Summary: Naruto awakens a legendary power, killing Mizuki in the process. Will Naruto be able to achieve his dreams with the power of the Rinnegan, or will it overwhelm him like it did that fateful night? Pairing to be determined.
1. Chapter 1

**Kasek: **You may notice I already have a story with this premise. That is because I am starting over, and plan on making this story a LOT better than Child of Prophecy was. I made a fair few mistakes, and the writing style was kind of bad, and so was the actual writing. I am surprised that it was (well, is for the moment) as popular as it was.

Why not just start the story over by rewriting the chapters and keep all of my readers? Because this fic may or may not go in a different direction than the other one was taking. The old story was NaruHina, but I may just make this NaruIno (because I've always wanted to try that- also, the NaruHina in CoP was kinda bad). Naruto's sensei was Kakashi, but I may make it someone else instead (as I write it, it's heading in that direction, but that may not happen). I may even make it so Naruto's not on the same team as Sasuke (which would be appropriate if someone else were to be Naruto's sensei, as it makes sense that Kakashi was purposefully handed Sasuke). I still have some planning to do (obviously), but for now, you can enjoy chapter 1 of this new story, Eye of Samsara.

Japanese dictionary in advance (though I'm sure most fanfic readers know at least this much by now): Kyuubi no Youko= Demon Fox of Nine Tails, I believe (Kyuubi=Nine Tails, Youko=Demon Fox).

Rinnegan- "Samsara Eye"

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the affiliated characters.**

It had started simply enough. Succeed at this task, and he would become a Genin.

Simple, right?

Yet it had gone oh so wrong.

The first sign of trouble had been when Iruka had showed up at his little spot in the woods, by an abandoned cabin, and yelled at him. Why would the man yell at him if the boy had done nothing but what he had been told to do? It wasn't that Naruto knew this was a sign of trouble; he was too one-track minded to realize that there was something wrong with Iruka not knowing about this alternate form of graduation Mizuki had presented him with.

The second sign of trouble was far more obvious than the first- it was when Iruka pushed him down, and was suddenly pinned to the wall of the cabin behind them with many kunai. They weren't aimed so as to merely pin him by his clothes, as some expert ninja were known to do- more than one had made its way into the scarred man's flesh, more than just mere drops of blood soiling his clothes.

Mizuki appeared, standing on a tree branch; he and Iruka then gave him conflicting messages- Mizuki told him to hand over the scroll like a good ninja, while Iruka told him to do anything but, stating that the scroll was full of dangerous hidden ninjutsu, and Mizuki was just using the boy to get his hands on it.

It only got worse from there. Mizuki said that there was no point in Naruto having it, and decided to tell Naruto "the truth", which caused Iruka to yell at him to not do it. Time would tell if Mizuki continuing would be a good thing.

He spoke of the attack of the Kyuubi no Youko of twelve years ago, and of a special rule that was to never be mentioned to Naruto. Naruto, unable to do anything else, inquired as to what this rule was.

Mizuki gave a dark smile. "The rule is... that nobody is allowed to tell you that you _are_ the Kyuubi no Youko."

Naruto's breath hitched in his throat. "What...?"

Iruka continued his fruitless yelling. "Stop it now, Mizuki!"

Mizuki sneered at the pain he was causing to the both of them, and began spinning the large shuriken in his hand. "You are the Kyuubi no Youko, the beast that destroyed our village and killed Iruka's parents! You were sealed up by the Hokage you so admire..."

"STOP IT!!!"

"...and you have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it odd that _everyone_ hated you? Even Iruka, he hates you too!"

And with that, Naruto snapped, if but for a moment.

Iruka saw the change in Naruto's stance- the boy tensed, and tilted his right side towards Mizuki; chakra began to spin all around him, visible to the naked eye. Mizuki saw the difference in the boy, but paid this no mind, intent on making the boy suffer before he died. "Nobody will ever love you!" He threw the large shuriken, and with practiced aim it sped towards Naruto. Iruka tore himself from the wall, tearing parts of himself in the process, and dashed in front of Naruto, his back to the shuriken. When he stopped in front of Naruto, his eyes widened at what he saw- Naruto had his hand raised, as if he were going to stop the shuriken with that gesture, and the boy's own eyes were widened at the sight of Iruka getting in the way. Speaking of the boy's eyes, they were not the usual white sclera, blue iris and black pupil Iruka was used to- no, now they were near entirely a greyish-purple, with a black circle as big as Naruto's old pupil and iris combined in the center and multiple black rings that expanded from this center.

Iruka barely had a second to register all of this before the shuriken embedded itself in his back.

As he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, he looked down at the boy in front of him. Naruto's eyes reverted to normal, and the only thing the boy could say was "Iruka...sensei...?"

The scarred sensei coughed, both to clear his throat and to see if he could still use his throat- considering the shuriken was square in the middle of his back, who knew what kind of damage had been done to his nervous system. He told the boy in front of him of his own past- without parents, he was starved for attention, so he had acted very much like Naruto himself did to get it. Tears began running down his cheeks. "It was... so painful... you must have been in a lot of pain, Naruto. If I had only done better... your life wouldn't be like this."

Naruto did not know what to do in this situation. He was confused, and so he did what he always did when presented with the possibility of being hurt- he ran. Iruka called after him, but it was useless, and he fell to the ground, the shuriken still in his back and still hurting like hell. Mizuki jumped down, and began taunting his former partner, about how Naruto was the type of person to use the scroll he had stolen to take revenge on the people of Konoha. "I'm sure you saw those eyes of his- those were not the eyes of a human. I'd say those were the eyes of a demon..."

Iruka pulled the shuriken out of his back, grunting in pain as he did so. "Naruto... isn't like that!"

Villain that he was, Mizuki shrugged it off. "Either way, I'm going to kill him and take that scroll. I'll take care of _you_ when I'm done." Mizuki disappeared, leaving Iruka to pull the kunai that were still in his limbs before he could get back to defending Naruto.

--

The Third Hokage could hear the cries of "Kill the demon!" even from his office. He was staring into his crystal ball, observing Naruto's form inside of the smooth orb. _Naruto knows... and he is afraid more than any other time in his life. The chances of the Kyuubi being released are infinitely small... but the fact that those eyes have awakened in him of all people..._

_--_

The form of Uzumaki Naruto could be seen jumping from tree limb to tree limb, the scroll he had stolen on his back. The form of Umino Iruka jumped up next to him and began moving alongside the boy. "Naruto! Give me the scroll, Mizuki's coming!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and changed his trajectory, tackling the man and sending him to the forest floor. The boy landed as his victim skidded along the ground, and collapsed into a sitting position with his back to a tree. Iruka looked very cross. "Naruto..." His form was enveloped in smoke, the distinctive sound of a Henge jutsu dispelling reaching the boy's ears. The smoke cleared, revealing Mizuki in the place of Iruka. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?"

'Naruto' gave a smirk as his own form was enveloped in smoke, revealing Iruka underneath when it cleared. "Because... _I'm_ Iruka!"

The traitor's eye twitched, though he tried to hide it with a smirk. "Is that so..." Unknown to him, the real Naruto was hiding behind a tree nearby. "You'd even transform into the thing that killed your parents to protect the scroll... and _him_. You're an idiot, you know that? Naruto and I are the same... if you have the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want! There's no way the Youko wouldn't use the power of the scroll for itself! Unlike what you seem to think he's going to do with it..."

Iruka coughed again, and stared at Mizuki. "Yeah... the Youko would do that..."

Naruto's breath caught, and he dared not try to breath while he was stunned. _I knew it.... deep down, even Iruka-sensei... doesn't acknowledge me..._

When Iruka continued, the blond found he could breathe again. "But... Naruto isn't the Youko, now is he? He is... one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker... and he is kind of clumsy... and no one accepts him. He knows within his heart what pain truly is. He is not the Youko; he is a member of this village. He is Uzumaki Naruto, just as much of a person as I am!"

By this point Naruto's tears were falling freely- he had never been so acknowledged before in his life.

Mizuki's reaction was quite the opposite- he was now quite mad with his former teaching partner. "I said I would take care of you later, but... I changed my mind." He took out another giant shuriken from his back, and began spinning it. "HURRY UP AND DIE!"

Naruto snapped yet again, and this time nothing would stop him.

The blond appeared between the two shinobi, and raised his palm towards Mizuki. "Shinra Tensei." Mizuki was thrown backwards by some invisible force, his shuriken flying away and embedding itself in a tree. Mizuki himself rolled along the ground for a moment before pushing himself back up and looking at Naruto. "Those eyes again... you are a demon, aren't you?"

Said 'demon' did not respond to this, however, and disappeared from Mizuki's sight. Mizuki felt a hand grip the top of his head, and suddenly he had no energy- he couldn't bring himself to move at all, though his arms were miraculously holding him up. Naruto's voice, now extremely cold, came from behind him. "Mizuki... you manipulated a young boy's hopes and dreams to your own ends, and would willingly kill your comrades... and the things you plan on doing with the scroll... it will be a mercy on your soul to kill you before you commit such sins."

Naruto yanked his hand from Mizuki's head, and Iruka was horrified when what looked like a ghost came with the man's body. Mizuki fell down like a puppet with its strings cut, now completely lifeless. The ghost faded into nothingness, and Naruto began to blink rapidly. "What- how-" he looked down, and saw Mizuki's corpse. He poked it with his finger, thinking the man was merely unconscious. "Ummm... what just happened? And why is everything black and white?"

--

The Third Hokage merely sighed as he observed the happenings through his crystal ball. _It seems that whatever possessed Naruto is no longer possessing him... yet his eyes remain changed. That ripple-like pattern... It has to be... the Rinnegan. The eyes of the great Sage of the ninja world... _He saw no point in further observing them, so he decided to go outside and stop that infernal racket. He had thought the shinobi of the village were more understanding than the villagers... apparently he had thought wrong.

--

Naruto was confused. "Seriously, everything's black with white outlines, except for the fact that there's yellow flames in your chest, Iruka-sensei."

Said sensei was equally confused. "Uh, Naruto, I think you have... a doujutsu. And the 'flames' are probably my untapped chakra."

The boy tilted his head, which looked rather creepy from the sensei's point of view due to Naruto's eyes. "Dou-jutsu? Wuzzat?"

Iruka couldn't help but chuckle at the young boy in front of him. "You never paid any attention in class, did you? A doujutsu is a jutsu that uses your eyes to activate, instead of handseals. They're really rare if you don't come from clans like the Uchiha or Hyuuga, in which the doujutsu 'Sharingan' and 'Byakugan' are passed down from member to member. I'm no expert, but if I had to name your eyes... I'd say that they were the Rinnegan."

Naruto looked at his sensei while his head remained tilted, hoping to get more answers out of Iruka without having to say anything. The man sighed. "The Rinnegan is said to be the doujutsu held by the Sage of the Six Paths. I can only _hope_ you know who that man is."

The boy's eyes widened at the revelation. "He's... the man who founded the ninja world! How could I have_ not _heard of him?"

Iruka chuckled at the boy. "So you_ do_ pay attention in class... sometimes, at least. Well, it's merely speculation on my part... the Hokage would probably know for sure. We should probably go back to the village, everyone's looking for you."

Naruto turned back to Mizuki, and seemed to examine him from a distance. ".....Mizuki's..... dead, isn't he?"

The man gave a sigh- he was hoping he wouldn't have to go through this. "....yes, yes he is."

The odd, greyish purple eyes flickered back to his sensei. "I thought so... he doesn't have any chakra. ...Did... Did I kill him? I know I blacked out, but... what did I _do_? Was I possessed by... the Kyuubi?"

Iruka didn't quite know what to say. "I don't... _think_ the Kyuubi possessed you. The Youko is a vile beast, hatred incarnate. Whatever possessed you... was cold and calculating, yet it seemed to be a force of good. It said killing Mizuki would be an act of mercy on his soul, before he could commit the deeds he had intended."

Naruto blinked, before looking at Mizuki again. "I... see."

Iruka gave a soft smile, though Naruto didn't see it, and patted the boy on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go home."

**Kasek:** Hope you guys like this one a lot better. My writing style devolved as the chapter progressed, but I can live with it if it's still slightly better than CoP's writing (especially chapter 1- UGH).

Changes I made to the beginning:

Iruka makes his speech to Naruto (though only part of it is said in dialogue), thus making him one of Naruto's precious people, and Naruto uses more conventional Rinnegan techniques to kill Mizuki.

Anyways, don't be afraid to try to give me ideas- some of you guys actually come up with some pretty good stuff (for instance, a far better explanation for how the Rinnegan actually works than what I came up with in CoP)


	2. Chapter 2

**Opening note: **Hey all! Miss me? I told you I planned on continuing this, didn't I? Here you go, chapter 2 of Eye of Samsara! And, uh... sorry for the extra length? This is like four times the size of chapter 1, and it only covers up to VS Ebisu. Very wordy, in other words. I tend to lose perspective when I write on my iPod... Anyways, I'm hoping to go in a vastly different direction with this fic than I usually do, so I also hope you enjoy!

-o-o-

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or affiliated properties.**

-o-o-

**Chapter 2**

As the Third Hokage, known to very few others as Sarutobi (those who knew him by his first name were fewer- and dead), waited in his office for Iruka to show up, with or without the boy who was known as a criminal now, he was surprised to see none other than Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin appear in his window. As the white-maned man stepped into the office of the Hokage, said Hokage stared at him for an answer. The younger (but not young) man sighed as he tried to think of what to say. "I come back to the village for the first time in a long time, and instead of a warm welcome, I get all of the upper level ninja running around in a panic because a boy- not even a ninja, just _a boy_- stole a scroll from your house. Care to explain how this happened, Sarutobi-sensei?"

The older man rolled his eyes. "The boy invented a jutsu that would knock even me out cold. Though you're probably so perverted that it wouldn't affect you much..."

Jiraiya was slightly surprised at this turn of events. "A jutsu that would knock you out but not me? Oh, this I gotta see. That is, if you're not planning on having the boy imprisoned for life for crimes against the village or anything like that."

The Third chuckled at that. "The boy won't be punished. In fact, I think I'll reward him with that hitai-ite he failed to earn earlier today. After all, he only did what he was told by his so-called teacher for a false hope at graduating... and took the man- a Chunin- out when the truth was revealed. Though he wasn't entirely himself when that happened..."

Jiraiya was a bit more surprised now. "A non-Genin took out a Chunin? I've only seen that happen once... and like you said happened here, that boy wasn't quite himself either. Though I sincerely doubt the circumstances were the same..."

Sarutobi gave a sad smile as he looked down at the crystal ball on his desk. "Did that boy awaken the Rinnegan at the time as well?"

To now say that Jiraiya was surprised would be an understatement. His eyes were wide as his fists clenched at the thought of old memories. "...as a matter of fact, he did. But the last one to have it is dead as far as I know... so who's this new kid?"

Sarutobi did not quite know how to reply to such a revelation. However, Jiraiya's question would wait, but only for a few seconds, as someone had just knocked on the door to the Hokage's office. Said Hokage smiled, knowing who it was. "Come in, Iruka."

The door opened, and in walked the teacher and student pair. Jiraiya looked at the boy, and noticed his eyes. His own eyes narrowed in thought- these were most certainly the same eyes that one of his previous apprentices, a boy named Nagato, had had. Naruto looked very sheepish as he walked over to the Hokage and placed the scroll he had stolen on the elderly man's desk. "Ehehe... sorry about that, Old Man! I was tricked by Mizuki into stealing the scroll."

The Hokage smiled at the young boy. "That's quite alright, Naruto, these things happen. So, what do you think of your new eyes?"

Jiraiya did a double-take. Naruto? The boy who activated the Rinnegan was _that_ Naruto of all people? He couldn't help but think that the gods must have some sick sense of humor...

Naruto blinked for a moment before speaking. "Well, I would love to be able to see in color again, this black with white outlines thing got old real quick."

Jiraiya slapped his hand to his face, covering his eyes, and then slid it off. "Brat, did you try turning those eyes of yours _off_?"

The boy blinked again. "...say what now?"

Jiraiya growled- when he had first heard of the kid he thought the boy was some kind of genius, but apparently he was an idiot at heart- or a savant. "Come on, to remain activated, a doujutsu requires chakra. Don't tell me you can't even feel your own chakra being drained?"

Naruto frowned and closed his eyes, to show that he was concentrating. After a minute, he opened them again- noticeably, the pupils of his eyes had shrunken into tiny dots. "Huh, so that's how you turn them off... so do my eyes look normal now? Iruka-sensei showed me my eyes in a mirror, and they look just plain freaky."

Iruka decided to be the one that would break the news to Naruto. "Er... Naruto... your pupils shrunk, and that was it. Your eyes are still the same greyish purple color and you still have multiple rings around your pupil."

Naruto swore under his breath, which caused Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow. "I don't think I've ever heard anybody complain about getting their hands on a power like the Rinnegan, kid."

The blond 'kid' sighed, and his eyes pointed at Jiraiya now. "They don't really do anything, though!"

Jiraiya was getting more and more upset with the boy. "The Rinnegan does plenty, you brat! You should have realized some of its power having had it on so long!"

Naruto's sensei gave a short bow. "I apologize, he... hasn't had the best upbringing."

Jiraiya muttered something to himself under his breath, though not loud enough for Naruto to hear. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped... what do you say we do with the kid, Sarutobi-sensei?"

Sarutobi gave a soft smile, and reached into his desk. "I'm thinking... we can't have Naruto go back to the Academy with those eyes. Especially after what he did tonight." He pulled out a fresh hitai-ite, ready to be placed on Naruto's person.

All present saw a very rare occurrence- Naruto blushed. "But... I..."

His sensei gave him a push from behind towards the Hokage, giving a sneaky grin. "You're not going to refuse a promotion to Genin from the Hokage, are you?"

Naruto gulped at the thought. "It's not that, just... I didn't really get to do anything. I was going to use the jutsu I learned from the scroll to take him out, but... then something came over me, and..."

The Hokage merely smiled. "I wasn't necessarily referring to that... after all, you faced down the Hokage himself and _knocked him out_ in order to complete your mission. I don't know any Konoha Genin who would be willing to even try. I think that that alone ought to qualify you for the rank, more than your ability to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu."

The blush deepened, but Naruto nodded, and walked over to his Hokage and gently took the piece of metal-on-cloth from him. Naruto stared at it for a moment, before removing the goggles he had worn for years and replaced them with the hitai-ite now tied around his forehead. The boy could feel tears collecting in his eyes. "I... I'm really a Genin now..."

The scar-nosed man next to him patted the boy on the back. "Congratulations, Naruto... you're a shinobi of Konoha now... what do you say to some victory ramen tomorrow? My treat."

Naruto was too dumb-founded to even react properly. "Th-thanks a lot..." He turned his eyes on the man he had viewed as his grandfather his whole life. "Hokage-sama... I'll... I'll be the best ninja you've ever had! I promise!"

Sarutobi chuckled at the boy- Naruto had never called him 'Hokage-sama' before, and he doubted he'd ever hear the words out of his mouth ever again. "You'll be hard-pressed to beat Jiraiya here, let alone the Yondaime Hokage... but for some reason I don't doubt it."

After Iruka and Naruto left to bring the boy home, the Hokage turned to the only Sennin in all of Konoha, and the only human Sennin left in the whole world. "So, Jiraiya... do you think you'd be willing to teach the boy? You seem to have some experience with the Rinnegan..."

Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "I guess... teaching an idiot like that... would be more fun than teaching a genius, now wouldn't it? Do I get to pick who his teammates are or does even someone like me not get that kind of honor?"

The man caught the book just before it smacked him in the face. He opened it up and began looking through it. "Oh...? Is this a list of everybody in Naruto's class?"

Sarutobi smirked. "Yes. It's designed to help me choose who should be in what team after they graduate. Naruto's picture is crossed out because he failed but... it turns out he was quite the diamond in the rough."

Jiraiya flipped through it until he reached Naruto's page, at the very end. "Hrm... he sucks at genjutsu... because he isn't smart. His taijutsu's subpar for a Genin... his ninjutsu's average, certainly, but up to standard. So are his power and speed... but what's this... Jonin-level stamina, you say? Ho ho, how interesting... he's going to be needing that. Notes: 'Tries hard, but always falls short. Sees Uchiha Sasuke as a great annoyance, and spends all of his energy trying to surpass him, instead of taking small steps and trying to surpass his failing grades."

He flipped through a few other pages before he raised an eyebrow. "This must be the Uchiha... Tch, I don't need no stinkin' Uchiha on this team..."

The elderly Hokage chuckled at that. "Well, I was planning on giving him over to Kakashi anyways..."

The Sennin rolled his eyes at that one. "That's one way to keep him out of action..." After a few more minutes, Jiraiya hummed a note to himself. "I've narrowed down the girl I want for the team down to two girls, but I can't really decide... Haruno as a genjutsu specialist, because she's so smart, or Hyuuga as a taijutsu specialist... there's also the problem of "good student versus bad student" ..."

Sarutobi nodded lazily. "Yes... that was who I was thinking of being with Naruto as well. Here's some information not in that report- it is no well kept secret that Naruto likes Sakura, but a much better kept one is that Hinata... 'draws inspiration' from Naruto."

Jiraiya couldn't help but snerk at that. "I presume you don't mean the same kind of inspiration I draw from women... well, I think... I'll go with the Hyuuga girl. She may be a Hyuuga, but she's been doing bad in the Academy compared to her classmates. I don't teach geniuses if I can help it, so I want to take two "bad cases" to make up for having to teach someone with the Rinnegan. The last kid soaked up everything I taught him at an astounding rate..."

The elder man seemed to have a thought strike him, besides a mental note to actually ask Jiraiya what his previous experience with the Rinnegan actually was. "Two 'bad cases'... you don't say. Well, if you want a bad case, then take Nara. The boy has the worst grades out of the entire graduating class, quite literally the bare minimum to pass in every category."

Even Jiraiya knew that there was some hidden intent behind those words. "You don't seriously expect me to take some sneaky brat like that, do you? 'Bare minimum'... to get that in one category takes a lot of bouncing around on your performance levels, and doing it on purpose is pretty hard.... To get that in all categories is kind of just beyond 'genius', don't you think?"

Mirth was evident on Sarutobi's face. "I didn't say he was stupid, I just said he was a bad case. The boy is one of the smartest I've ever seen, but he's gained a reputation as the laziest bum in all of Konoha. Guy currently has a team, so I thought I'd make the suggestion. 'It takes one to know one', as they say."

The Sennin was obviously quite irritated by the comment. "I'm not lazy! I just procrastinate a lot." He continued pouring through the catalogue, looking for an alternative to the Nara. "....damn. There really aren't any other guys to use as an alternative..."

Hiruzen shrugged. "I'm surprised that you're willing to even have more guys than necessary on the team."

The sound of those words struck Jiraiya like a lightning bolt. "M-more guys than... necessary? What are you talking about? Every team for as long as I could remember had two guys and a girl on it, there's a reason for that, isn't there? I can think of maybe one or two exceptions, and that's because there weren't enough girls to go around come team formation time."

The great Hokage- the 'Professor', the 'God of Shinobi', one of the strongest ninja to have lived since the founder of ninjutsu himself- merely shrugged. "I just enforce it because it worked so well for my generation. Changing it around a bit might do some good, I hear the Raikage did something like this not too long ago and it worked wonders for overall performance."

Jiraiya was immediately pouring back over the book within moments, a testament to his personality. "S-surely there must be a girl I missed!" He flipped through the pages again, and right at the end he noticed that the page with Naruto on it- the very last page- was stuck to the back of the book a bit unnaturally. He read the profile as quickly as he could. "Yamanaka... Ah, Inoichi's girl, eh? Let's see... 'Overall good student, but her performance suffers due to an infatuation with... Uchiha Sasuke?' Oh ho! This is an opportunity, here!"

As great a shinobi as he was, Sarutobi did not quite get Jiraiya's logic. "Excuse me? What's different about her from Haruno? They're both pretty young girls with good grades and an infatuation with the Uchiha..."

Jiraiya seemed to be forming some kind of master plan within his head if his face was any indication. "You said it yourself- Naruto likes Haruno... It would pain him far more to see her paired with the Uchiha than with just himself. It might even boost his ego to have her on his team. Having Yamanaka, however, will give him all of the pain of Sasuke's existence with none of that comfort of having a girl he likes. That oughta motivate him to get better damn quickly, and maybe he'll learn to expand his horizons as far as girls go."

The Hokage sighed as he brought out some paperwork. "You're trying to build an effective team, not catering to Naruto's needs or your wants, you old pervert."

The 'old pervert' gave a rather dark smile. "You're underestimating me here, sensei... like I said, Hyuuga's a taijutsu specialist, and Yamanaka excel at genjutsu and other such spiritual things, though Ino here seems to be a ninjutsu specialist for the moment. Most people are, in the beginning. I know for a fact that Naruto, as the owner of the Rinnegan, is going to excel at ninjutsu above all other arts, more so than he already does, so he's going to need people who can support him in the other departments. Naruto will motivate Hyuuga, Yamanaka will probably motivate Naruto... and maybe the circle will complete itself and Hyuuga will motivate Yamanaka. If I'm lucky, in more ways than one."

Sarutobi merely pinched his forehead as he started signing the papers that he had brought out. "Well... either way, it's fortunate that a teacher's position had opened up. Kurenai decided that she wasn't ready to be a sensei yet, says she needs to do more research on the matter before she starts up with the next batch. Otherwise, I'd have to be the bringer of bad tidings to one Jonin or another." He stamped his 'official Hokage's seal of approval' onto one of the documents. "There! Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino are now a part of Squad 8 under Jonin-sensei Jiraiya." He brought out his pipe and lit it, letting the glow of the embers highlight his face in the relatively dark room. "May the ancestors save our souls."

Whatever reaction the elder man had been expecting, what he got was laughter from Jiraiya. "Don't worry about it, sensei. What's the worst that could happen?" Suddenly, Jiraiya's smile was frozen in place. "The worst that..." His smile was replaced with pure, unfiltered horror. "…he's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki! With the Rinnegan! Oh gods, I'm going to die, aren't I? I'm going to die horribly, in some giant explosion that wipes Konoha off of the map! And then he'll use his eyes to enslave my soul and feed it to the Youko! You know what, I changed my mind, I don't think I want to be a sensei again!" Sarutobi merely held up the paper that had his seal on it, waving it tauntingly in front of himself. Jiraiya's every muscle froze for a moment before he turned around, heading for the door. "Fine, be that way, you old geezer... see if I ever give you autographs again."

Sarutobi could only smile as Jiraiya slammed the door on his way out. "It seems that... the wheels of fate are turning, aren't they, Minato?"

-o-o-

Naruto grumbled as he looked in the mirror back at his apartment, inspecting himself instead of going to sleep, his eyes completely covered by the chakra-treated glass that now covered them. Iruka had given him 'combat sunglasses', so that he could hide his eyes from others; apparently, they blocked out sources of light that could be considered 'harmful' to the human eye, which was useful on a night-time mission when you might expect to come across somebody with a flash bomb. They were also pretty resilient, as they were supposed to withstand everything short of a kunai stab straight to the lens. Examining himself, he saw that the frames were thick, and covered his eyes on every side; he supposed it was necessary, seeing that he now had some pretty freaky looking eyes, but he wished there was someway to be more... natural, about it, like some normal sunglasses that covered his sides without actually blocking his line of sight.

Taking the sunglasses off, he could see his own eyes in the mirror. He hated what he saw- the boy he saw in the mirror... he wasn't Naruto. He looked most natural with a neutral face, no smile, no emotion reflected anywhere on his person. Try as he might, all emotions looked unnatural now- those were not the eyes of a charming young man such as himself (or so he told himself) reflected in the mirror, but of a trained killer. The more he looked at the 'neutral' face, the angrier he became; the angrier he became, the reflection showed the same changes, becoming even more unnatural. Naruto put the sunglasses back on, and looked at himself in the mirror again; he looked far more natural with them on them with them off, which annoyed him because he happened to like his old blue eyes. They weren't just his trademark; they were a hint to his past, because blue eyes just weren't found in Konoha. So, it was now a lose-lose situation- no matter what, he would not be getting his old face back. Frustrated, he left the bathroom, heading directly for his bed. It was not long before he was asleep- after all, it was early in the morning after a very stressful day and night.

It was far from a restful sleep; that neutral face of his haunted his dreams, attached to a body that couldn't possibly belong to him- it was taller, wrapped in a black cloak that contradicted with Naruto's very fashion sense. It walked down the streets of Konoha, and everyone he passed was obviously quite fearful. Peers, strangers- even the few people who he could somewhat call 'friends' turned away from the gaze of the Rinnegan. It eventually found the gate to the graveyard, and walked among each of the rows. It eventually found one grave, and Naruto could read it all too well- it read 'Umino Iruka', a name he had seen on the blackboard many times at the Academy.

The face spoke, its very tone neutral and cold despite the sorrow that the words ought to convey. "They still don't understand, sensei... I gave you one of the greatest gifts of all, that of eternal rest in heaven. If you had lived, you would've done irreparable damage to this world, and then you would find no rest in hell. The fools of this world can only think of this world and of their own justice..."

The eyes focused on Naruto himself, who until now thought he had just been viewing the dream; dark flames began rising around the older Naruto's feet. "You know what the people of this world are like- are you going to let them do as they please... or punish them with the wrath of the heavens? Will you merely watch as the pure corrupt themselves, or will you save them before the gates of heaven are closed to them?" Within moments, the entire landscape had changed- Konoha was now completely leveled, wood and stone laying everywhere while more of those dark flames burned. "These eyes were given to you for a reason- you are the envoy of the gods, the one who has control over life and death. The people around you will live and die at the whim of the gods, and you are their tool. The gods are the judge and jury... and you're the executioner." A large figure appeared behind the other Naruto, the only visible part of it through the dark flames being the glowing pair of eyes, bearing the Rinnegan. They stared down at Naruto, seeming to penetrate his very soul.

The dream ended just as Naruto could feel himself being sucked into those eyes. He awoke with a start- his body was still paralyzed except for his eyes, but he was still full of energy, so he moved them around harshly as he felt his breathing become labored. After a few moments, he could move his body again, and he quickly sat up, trying to regain a semblance of control over his body. His bed was next to the window, and he could feel the light of dawn coming through the blinds without using his eyes. Looking around, he realized that his eyes had somehow activated during the night, as even though he could feel light he could only see black.

Turning them off again, his mood darkened- this was not a good way for him to start out his day, with a harsh reminder of the reality of his situation. He was hoping that that dream was just that- a product of his overactive imagination. Not being the smartest guy around, Naruto read comics instead of novels, and the scene reminded him of something from one of the more 'mature' comics he had lifted from the shop once, about some dead guy who was given his life back if he acted on behalf of the gods.

He couldn't help but chuckle at that word. 'Gods'... Even if they existed, the boy wouldn't worship them, since his life was so horrible that no benevolent being would bestow it upon anyone. The shinobi of Konoha only believed in the wills of their ancestors who had moved on to the next life- the Will of Fire. That was all most of them needed to believe in.

-o-o-

The boy was grouchy as he argued with the photographer, who had been hired to take his picture for his Ninja Registration. "Take your sunglasses off, brat! I can't see your eyes! This ID is supposed to show your _entire_ face!"

"I was ordered by a higher-up to wear them! Get over it! I see plenty of ninja walking around with masks and sunglasses!" He was annoyed at more than just the photographer- he had been planning for quite a while to dress up as a Kabuki actor for his picture as a prank, but his new eyes had ruined that idea.

After the picture was taken, he had to go see the Hokage, who would approve his registration. Naruto's mood was so far down that he hadn't even filled it out with a light heart, and the Hokage could see it in the writing alone. "I'm sorry about what happened, Naruto... but it's good to know that you can be serious if need be. The explanatory meeting for all of the new ninja is tomorrow, so why don't you enjoy your day off? It'll be your only day of rest for quite a while, and you need it judging by how deep your frown is. Keep that up and I might need to put you through a psychological evaluation."

All present in the room, for the registration process required more than the Hokage being present, felt a shiver go down their spine. 'Psyche Eval' was never a pleasant process, especially since the shinobi chosen for the job enjoyed being sadistic. Naruto nodded, even now drained of all energy, and was about to leave when the sliding door was opened with a great rush. On the other side stood a young boy, with spiky brown hair and a long blue scarf. He drew out a shuriken, and charged the Hokage, scarf flailing wildly behind him. "I've come to take your life and your seat as Hokage, old man!" However, as he was aiming his shuriken as he spoke, multitasking his feet, hands, and mouth proved too much and he didn't even notice Naruto sticking out his foot as their paths crossed. Naruto gave no sympathy to the boy landing on his face, instead walking out the door without even looking back.

He passed an ordinary looking ninja in the hallway, a man wearing a blue shirt, pants, bandana, and more regular looking sunglasses, who gave him 'the look' as he walked by. Naruto glared at those sunglasses in that brief moment- they seemed to do a pretty good job of hiding 'those' eyes, why did he have to wear something so thoroughly protective?

-o-o-

As he walked down the street, he was starting to get severely agitated. Everyone still knew who he was; the sunglasses changed nothing for the better. In fact, the adults glared at him more than they had because they couldn't see that he was looking right back at them. Even worse, there was someone following him, and doing a poor job of it at that! Eventually, he was passing by the flower shop, when he was surprised to hear a girl's voice call his name. He turned, and saw that it was Yamanaka Ino, a blond girl with long hair tied into a ponytail from his class. His mood was brightened considerably- not because a girl was talking to him, but because _anyone_ was talking to him. "Huh? Ino? Why are you talking to me?"

The girl's eyes had 'the look' in them- not 'the look' that all the adults had, but her very own 'look' that signified that she wanted some information from you. "How'd you get your hands on a headband? I thought you failed your exam!"

The boy touched his hand to his forehead, and felt the cool metal that was now bound over it. He hadn't even realized it was on- he certainly hadn't planned on keeping it on today, but it must have just happened while he was in such a bad mood. "Th-this? It's... a long story, and I don't feel like telling it. But I'm a ninja now! I'm not gonna stay behind while Sasuke's out on the field!"

Ino seemed satisfied with the answer if her haughty smirk was any indication. "Haha! You better, because my Sasuke isn't going to wait for an idiot like you to catch up to him! I was just curious, your being a ninja now is the talk of the town, since you walked out of the Academy without wearing your headband. Does it have anything to do with why you're wearing those sunglasses now? I haven't heard _anyone_ mention _those_ yet."

The meaning of her words hit him as she spoke, and he was unable to speak for a moment- they weren't staring because he was wearing sunglasses, lots of kids wore those! It was obviously his headband that was making everyone stare. His mood brightened even further, but then he noticed the sultry tone of her voice during her last line, and he was all of a sudden quite embarrassed. "Th-these? I just wanted to... make a fashion statement!"

Ino again seemed quite satisfied with the answer, looking up and down his body with a sultry smile on her face. "Hmm... if you want to make a fashion statement, it's best to change your clothes too, you know. You're not gonna attract any girls with those clothes no matter how handsome you look with sunglasses, but then again you're not gonna attract any girls at all with Sasuke around."

Naruto couldn't help but blush severely at the implication of her words, and his voice was reduced to a stutter; his body was telling him to run away as quickly as possible. Ino was a dangerous girl indeed. "W-well, I've k-kinda got to go now... st-stuff to do and all."

Ino raised a single eyebrow, apparently trying to act as seductive as she possibly could, causing Naruto to wonder what the hell they taught these girls in kunoichi class that he hadn't heard about. "Stuff, hmm? This stuff wouldn't happen to include... shopping, would it? Clothes-shopping, in particular?"

As clueless as he was, and as little as he knew her, Naruto knew not to dare utter anything on the list of words forbidden around Ino- which included any indication that he was going shopping. "N-no, of course not! I was just... gonna train some more! I'll, uh... see you around! Bye!"

Ino sighed as the boy ran for his life, a content smile on her face at having successfully intimidated the boy. "Says the boy walking through the shopping district..."

-o-o-

Naruto eventually found himself at a training field, apparently abandoned except for whoever was tailing him. He activated his eyes, looking around to see if he could see their chakra poking through the foliage. He was surprised he was doubting himself- he knew he could see chakra, as he could see chakra through just about anything now. He couldn't see the outlines of people through objects, but their chakra was clear as day to him, and the chakra he saw was very small compared to Iruka's- a child's, if he absolutely had to make a guess. The more objects that got in the way, the fainter the chakra became, so that meant they were also close to him.

He was about to call them out when he saw another chakra rapidly approaching, a much larger one- definitely that of a shinobi's. He turned off his eyes as he saw the man's outline come into view, and he recognized him as the man he had passed in the hallway earlier. His foul mood was brought back, the lightheartedness induced by talking with Ino gone. "What do you want?"

The man's mood was just as foul; his stance was aggressive, and there was a frown on his face. "What do I want? You cheeky little brat! You think you have the right to say that after you assaulted the Honorable Grandson?"

Naruto was most definitely not in the mood to deal with false accusations after the near-rightful one he just narrowly avoided the night before. "'Assaulted'? 'Honorable Grandson'? What the hell are you talking about?"

This only provoked the man more. "Do not feign ignorance! The Honorable Grandson walked into the room to visit his grandfather, the Hokage, and you assaulted him!"

The blond tried his best to remember what this man could be talking about. "Wait... brown-haired kid, blue scarf?" The man nodded. Naruto groaned in annoyance. "He was the Hokage's grandson? And _that's_ why you're after me?"

The man seemed to smile, though there was no mirth in it. "Yes! Now you see the error of your ways!"

Naruto's mouth formed into a snarl. "What 'error'? If someone bursts into a room, with a _shuriken_ in hand, and shouts for the whole _world_ to hear that they want to kill someone, I'm supposed to just stand by when I have no clue who he is? Besides, all I did was trip the brat on my way out! If he's hurt, it's because he's no-good as a ninja!"

Still mirthless, the smile turned into a mirror of Naruto's expression. "How dare you insult the Honorable Grandson! He has the blood of a Kage inside of him, _and_ he is the pupil of an elite teacher such as myself! You, who can't lay claim to _one_ ancestor, or _one_ elite teacher, has no right to do such things!"

Naruto was well and truly ticked off, and had activated his eyes again- though the man would not see the effect of it, Naruto felt... more comfortable, this way. He couldn't quite explain it, but the lack of familiar colors meant that it was harder to recognize all the hints of people's hatred. Still, the words stung- tears were welling up in his eyes, and he was glad that he was wearing the sunglasses now, as they provided a secondary 'mask' for him to hide behind. "Just because I don't know who my parents are, you think you can insult the dead like that? Just because he isn't some 'elite', you think you can insult Iruka-sensei like that?"

He was about ready to pull out his new jutsu when a thought crossed his mind. _How many clones will I need to beat him to a bloody pulp? Five-hundred ought'ta do it, but at this point I'm thinking of making a thousand!_ A voice seemed to echo into his head, surprising him. '**Make one for the moment**.' He didn't bother arguing with it for now, and in a moment, he put his fingers together in a cross-shape, and called out the name of his technique. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A burst of smoke appeared besides him, and another Naruto stood there. They both looked around, obviously very confused, and acting very oddly at the sight of each other.

The man couldn't help but laugh. "Oh... oh dear! You've never actually used that jutsu before, have you? How you learned it without using it is beyond me, but this just proves how idiotic you and your teacher are!"

However, it wasn't making the clone that was bothering Naruto- it was the aftereffects. Naruto, for some reason or another, could see both his point of view and his clone's. Apparently, his clone was being affected in the same way, for it was using the same tricks to ascertain its own point of view as Naruto was, though thankfully in a different order. It made Naruto wonder if he was truly so impulsive that his train of thought went entirely elsewhere in the few seconds it had been since their minds had separated. They both turned towards the ninja, blinked at different times, turned back to each other, and both grinned at the same time. Looking at himself, the grin seemed a tad evil, though he couldn't care less at the moment. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

The clone nodded in approval. "Hell yeah! How many more clones you want?"

Naruto tried to think it over logically, something he rarely had to do. "One at the moment, because of... you know." The clone nodded, and a moment later another clone came into existence. The third point of view disoriented them for but a moment, as the first two Narutos were looking at the third and as such the third's view was radically different. They turned in unison towards their enemy, looking rather defiant. "Come and get me, you big..." Naruto's defiant attitude disappeared for the moment as he struggled for the word he was looking for; triple vision was certainly information overload. "...what's that word for someone like him? Begins with a 'b', it's on the tip of my tongue..."

One of the clones shrugged. "Don't look at me, man. Baldy? Blooper?"

The other clone gave the first a look of skepticism- Naruto could tell because of their shared vision. "Blooper? Why would you call him a blooper? That isn't the first 'B' word that comes to mind..."

The first seemed to think what he had in mind was quite clever. "Because he's one big mistake! And we're gonna be laughing our heads off when we're done with him!"

Naruto could only smile- apparently having himself for company would be fun times in the future. Turning back to his opponent, he settled into a fierce grin. "Alright then, you big blooper! Let's go!"

The man pushed his sunglasses up his nose, to hide his eyes a bit better. "A blooper, you say? I, Ebisu, the elite teacher chosen to tutor the Hokage's grandson... am a 'blooper'? You better think of your last words, boy, because you're not going to have much time to speak them!"

Suddenly, however, Jiraiya appeared between the combatants before they could begin their fight, dressed in a regular Jonin's outfit rather than his rather unique clothes Naruto had last seen him in. "Alright, Ebisu, knock it off. I have enough evidence against you to get you tried for treason. You'd probably get off innocent, knowing the elders, but it'd still be a mar on your perfect record."

Ebisu dropped to the ground, kneeling before the elder ninja. "F-forgive me, Lord Jiraiya! I misspoke... I had no intent to truly kill the boy, I was putting the fear of death into him so that I could dispose of him more easily."

Jiraiya turned to look at the three Narutos, who all seemed rather unafraid. "Well, I don't think such tactics work on Naruto... anyways, you should go. You seem to have been separated from your student."

Ebisu suddenly began panicking when he realized that he had let his student out of his sight, and immediately fled the scene, shouting for the Honorable Grandson to respond. Naruto's clones dispersed themselves, and the original stared at the small chakra still in the bushes. "...that's probably the 'Honorable Grandson' hiding over there, you know."

The old man couldn't help but laugh. "You're a sharp one, aren't you? You can't even see him and your intuition is telling you who it is. Hey, in the bushes! Get out here!"

After a few moments of leaves rustling, the same boy from earlier stumbled out of the bushes and into view, a frown on his face. It seemed like he couldn't decide which of the two to glare at, so he kept his vision concentrated between them. "Hey, you! Blondie! Who do you think you are, tripping me like that? Do you know who I am?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "'Honorable Grandson of the Hokage' and all that crap, right? Like I care about that kind of thing! I was in a bad mood, and opportunity for stress relief slammed the door open! It's your own fault for saying you wanted to kill the old man!"

The boy was further agitated by his statements. "Hey! I resent that! If I can beat the Hokage, that means that I'm better than him, and then I'll get to be Hokage!"

A frown formed on Naruto's own face, signaling the beginning of a childish argument. "You can't become Hokage!" "Why not?" "Because I'm gonna be Hokage!" "Says who?" "Says you! I already beat the Hokage, with _one_ jutsu!"

Jiraiya couldn't help but roll his own eyes at the Sarutobi child's sudden reversal in personality; instead of arguing with a rival, it seemed like he was worshiping a celebrity. "Whoa! So you're the one who did that! Tell me how you did it, pleasepleaseplease-" The only adult present couldn't help but be intrigued by it, as well; it wasn't every day that an Academy student took down a Kage-level shinobi.

Naruto relented rather quickly, since the boy's voice was rather high-pitched. "Alright, already, I'll show you! Ultimate transformation technique: Oiroke no Jutsu!" Naruto exploded into smoke, and when it began to clear, it was obvious that he no longer remained a young boy; now, 'he' was a curvaceous young woman, who was also quite naked except for the wisps of smoke that covered the essential body parts; if Naruto had a mirror, he'd realize that his Rinnegan wasn't showing through the transformation. 'She' turned to Jiraiya, and walked over to him, speaking with the same sultry tone that he had heard Ino using earlier. "Hey, big boy, like what you see? Or do you need to do a bit more than... look?"

The elder shinobi didn't up and faint like his sensei had- instead, he was giving Naruto two thumbs up. "Naruto... you are a perverted genius! A lesser pervert would have been done in, and that's a high compliment considering that I'm the greatest pervert I've ever known! I have no idea how you could improve on that, considering that you knocked out the Hokage with it!"

An evil smile appeared on 'her' face. "Oh, I think I know just how we can do that..." 'Her' fingers crossed, and in an instant there was another of 'her' besides Jiraiya, and they both advanced on the man, speaking in unison. "What do you say? Double or nothing? Or, if you prefer..." They both had gotten to the man's side by now, and each leaned into his ear to whisper. "...we could bring some more over to have some fun."

A fountain of blood exploded from the man's nose, and he immediately fell over unconscious. The clone disappeared, and Naruto reverted to his original form, and immediately began kicking the unconscious ninja. "Stupid pervert! Old men are so easy to manipulate..."

The boy seemed even more excited than before. "WHOOOOOA! YOU KNOCKED HIM STRAIGHT OUT! You've got to teach me that! That way, I could beat my granpa, and then I could be Hokage!"

Naruto patted his ears to make sure that they were still working; he wondered if he had ever been that loud before. "I told ya, it doesn't work that way, or I'd already be Hokage. Just because you beat the Hokage doesn't mean you can take all comers- what if you used that jutsu and became Hokage, and then you had to fight a GIRL? What would you do then?"

He received a blank stare for a moment. "...turn into a guy, duh."

Naruto couldn't help but smack his forehead, and at the same time was far more energetic than he had been before the encounter. He was actually thinking now, and he noticed that something seemed to be dictating to him in his head what he wanted to say in the first place; it was sort of his voice, and sort of a man's voice, and while he was creeped out he decided to investigate later and trust it for now. "I can't _believe_ I've never thought of that! But women are very specific about the kind of guys they want, so if you don't match your body up with their wants then they're even _more_ likely to kill you!" He suddenly realized that he had gone on a tangent, since the voice hadn't said any of that, and shook his head. "Argh! That wasn't the point, dammit. My point was, was that whatever super jutsu that you have, there will always be the one shinobi who can get around it. It's like rock-paper-scissors; you'd think rock would always win, but then somehow paper beats it. Someone still needs to explain that to me, by the way. Anyways, what you need is to work hard and be able to use rocks, scissors, and paper for whatever lame reason you can think of for having it, because you don't want to be known as the Hokage who got killed by a brat who tried something other than rock and scissors, now do you?"

The analogy seemed to strike a chord in the boy's heart. "Whooooa~ You're so smart! I bet you're a great ninja!"

The blond smirked, noting that if whatever was whispering in his head was gonna make him smarter (he'd stop listening if it did more than explain stuff, because that would be just plain creepy), and pointed to himself arrogantly with his thumb while giving his signature grin. "Of course I'm a great ninja! Just you wait and see, I'm going to be famous around here in no time! You can bet that Uzumaki Naruto will be a contender for Hokage in the future!"

He noticed that his own grin had somehow spread to the boy's face, and turned off his Rinnegan so he could see it better. "And Sarutobi Konohamaru will challenge you for that title!"

-o-o-

Long after Naruto had done what he wanted for the day, Jiraiya was making his report to the Hokage. "That boy has potential! That jutsu he used on you was _amazing_! I'd adopt him if I could, but, you know..."

The Hokage sighed at his former student's immaturity. "Yes, yes, it'll ruin your image with the ladies... But if you ever decide you want just the one girl, the image of a loving father would be very appealing. Now, if that's ALL you have to report..."

Jiraiya held up one of his hands, a strap still across it despite his new uniform. "Now, I didn't say _that_; it seems Naruto has already discovered some functions of the Rinnegan. Now, I'd need to talk with him about the matter, but I _think_ it's started speaking to him."

This remark was met with Sarutobi's jaw dropping. "…it speaks. The eyes... speak. Naruto's eyes are speaking to him."

The sage nodded, apparently as sagely as he could. "Yes. You've heard of 'genetic memory', right? The Rinnegan contains the knowledge that is both granted to all wielders of the Rinnegan- that is, how the eyes work, and how chakra works- and then they gain the knowledge of their ancestors, going backwards to a certain point in the tree. You can't, say, go backwards to the first human; Nagato couldn't even reach back to anyone in his tree who had been a ninja, let alone the last person who even cared about fighting. But, with just the Rinnegan's own knowledge, he was able to become an extremely powerful ninja at a young age."

The less experienced shinobi in this matter could only nod as Jiraiya continued speaking. "Naruto, however, has a distinct advantage in that he had two powerful ninja for his parents, and who knows how many other shinobi farther back the tree; the memories don't do much in the ways of emotional comfort, because all the Rinnegan gives is 'knowledge', spoken directly into his mind, but Naruto won't mind too much, I'm sure."

Sarutobi seemed concerned about something as he listened. "And you don't think that just _maybe_, he might get too powerful too quickly? His father didn't have those eyes, and look where he got."

Jiraiya scoffed at the remark, pointing to himself arrogantly with his thumb as Naruto had done before. "Who do you think I am? It took me three years to get Nagato to Jonin level, not because it required that long, but because we had to take it nice and slow so his mind matured with his power; Naruto might even need to take _longer_ because of the sheer amount of potential he has. Plus, Rinnegan users are natural teachers, because of both the eye's insight and their ancestor's knowledge. The Sage of Six Paths wouldn't be renowned for his wisdom if a human being could attain that level of knowledge by himself. So, Naruto could accelerate his teammates' growth, as well; any unnatural growth on his part can be attributed to my tutelage, since they'll be growing as well. This way, Naruto can grow with little suspicion from people who might have a grudge against him."

Sarutobi nodded in understanding, and smiled a little; Jiraiya had actually given Naruto's case a lot of consideration. "And, of the other functions of the Rinnegan...?"

A blush came over Jiraiya's face; apparently, he had forgotten he had anything else to say. "Oh! Right. I never saw this with Nagato, because he wasn't a clone user, but apparently the clones of a Rinnegan user can all see through each other's eyes. Compliments to whoever taught him the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, by the way."

The Hokage shrugged as he tried to process all the consequences every step Naruto took had on the future. "He probably taught it to himself, a jutsu like the Kage Bunshin is actually easier to use than our Academy standards to someone like him. His chakra levels are actually higher than most Jonin, after all. So, you think he has a bright future, then? He's had a miserable past so far."

Jiraiya looked at the ceiling, possibly trying to see through it and into the sky- another example of trying to be sage-like when he was anything but. "You know what they say about karma. If your life is horrible and you've done nothing to deserve it, it's to make you appreciate the things you DO deserve more when you get them later on."

"I thought it was because you were a horrible person in your past life."

"Hush, you."

-o-o-

**Ending notes: **Alright, notes time! Where to start? Having Jiraiya as a sensei makes sense to me, since he has previous experience with the Rinnegan. Having Ino as a teammate was a personal dare to myself, one I hope turns out well. As for Hinata, that was entirely Jiraiya's fault, direct all inquiries to him.

**Jiraiya: **Hey! I have enough fanmail to deal with as is!

**Kas: **Anyways, as for my concept of the Rinnegan, I took two concepts- the Answer Talker from Zatch Bell (Look at it and tell me that it doesn't look like the Rinnegan), and 'genetic memory' from Assassin's Creed. It basically allows Naruto to get any question answered that his ancestors know the answer to- or the gods, if they feel like telling him. Appropriate for an eye of reincarnation, no? There's also a third aspect of it's powers that Naruto hasn't quite discovered yet, but he will sometime or another (no, I did not plan for it and then forget, why do you ask?). And yes, I am thinking this through on how all of this will affect Pain as a character later down the line.

Lastly, the whole 'gods' thing... time will tell on how that will work out (author-code for 'I put it in because it looked cool, I'll plan for it later'). Anyways, review if you have something to say! I'm already working on chapter 3, there should be a much smaller time-gap between now and then than the one between chapters 1 and 2.


	3. Chapter 3

**Opening Notes:** Sorry I took so long! I've just had a hard time with keeping inspiration up long enough to write. I hope you all enjoy this :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or affiliated characters.**

Naruto was nervous as he walked to the Academy one last time for an 'explanatory meeting'. He had been told that his graduation had been generally accepted now- the cover story had been that Mizuki had fudged Naruto's grades in order to manipulate him-, but he just didn't know what he'd do about actually meeting his classmates again. It may have only been two days ago that he was causing trouble for them, but to him it seemed like an eternity. The only person in his recent memory was Ino, and he didn't want to think about her, though he was far too nervous to think of any other individuals.

He didn't see anyone else on his way to the classroom- he supposed that everyone else had arrived early. When he actually got there, he could see some faces he thought he recognized, but he had never realized just how little attention he had paid them before. As he tried to go find a corner to hide in, someone called out to him. "Huh? Naruto? Why are you here? Didn't you fail? And what's with the sunglasses?"

Naruto turned to the familiar voice- it was Shikamaru, one of three boys that were anything near to what Naruto could call a friend, and one of the last people he expected to call him out. He tried to pass it off as quickly as possible, pointing to the Konohagakure insignia on his forehead. "This says I passed, so there!"

Shikamaru merely shrugged as he went back to ignoring everything around him- he was normally extremely laid back, so this level of logic was enough to dissuade him. Surprisingly, the corner desk wasn't full- it was probably because the others had nothing to fear from sitting up front now that they weren't students. The only person back there was some dark-haired girl whose name was escaping him, and she said nothing as Naruto sat down next to her. In fact, she seemed to be actively not looking at him.

There was a bit of noise from the hallway, and he could see Ino run through the door at the same time as a pink-haired girl. It was Sakura, a girl he had had a crush on for the longest time. They argued over who had gotten there first for a moment before Sakura walked among the students and found a seat next to a dark-haired boy- Sasuke, the most popular guy in school, and someone Naruto disliked more than anyone else. He again felt little of what he should; he was beginning to see why the Hokage felt he should go to Psyche Eval if he didn't brighten up.

As he continued watching his crush flirt with his nemesis, he noticed too little too late that Ino had walked over to where he was sitting, and had assumed 'flirt mode' herself. "Hey, Naruto! I see you're still wearing those sunglasses. You must have a _really_ good reason to be wearing them indoors..."

Naruto realized that there was no escape this time- when Ino wanted information, she got it. He had received a cover story to use on the other Genin, but he didn't know how well it would work. "My eyes got damaged in an accident, I need to wear them so I can see right while keeping them protected from more damage."

Ino raised an eyebrow- she knew as well as he did that that excuse was crap, especially with how he had said it. She sat down next to him, locking him in place and making him more scared of her than anyone else. "Aww, well that's just horrible, Naruto. On the plus side, the sunglasses make you look better. You should see if you can keep them after your eyes heal. Right, Hinata?"

She had leaned back so she could see the girl on the other side of Naruto, who was apparently Hinata. Naruto turned to look at her- she had the same look of being trapped in her eyes that Naruto knew was in his own, hidden behind his sunglasses. She glanced at Naruto for a moment before turning away again. "Th-they're not... bad..."

Ino smirked in what appeared to be a triumph of some sort; Naruto could never hope to fathom what went on in the girl's brain. "See? Now we just need to get you a matching outfit and you'll look like an actual ninja!" Everyone around them flinched- Ino had mentioned shopping, though indirectly. There was no stopping her now by Naruto's own power; even children who hated Naruto wouldn't wish this fate on him.

Fortunately, fate was on Naruto's side, for the moment; Iruka had just walked in, clipboard in hand. "Alright, guys, settle down. It's time we got to the main event, but first... I just wanted to say that I was proud to have you guys as my students. Starting today, you will all get to be real shinobi, though you'll only be Genin. Your paths as ninja have only just started- the Academy is a cakewalk compared to your future. To help you, we've put each of you into three-man teams, each with a Jonin sensei to help you. You will follow their instructions in order to complete your missions."

Naruto's eye twitched beneath his sunglasses. Teams? That meant he'd be stuck with two other people who could easily discover his secret. He glanced at Ino- he'd die if it turned out she was on his team.

"We tried our best to balance the teams skill-wise, so don't expect to end up with your best friends." Naruto was glad to join in on the collective moan the students made- it made him feel more normal again.

Naruto would've held his breath on every team announcement if there weren't so many of them. "Team 7 will include Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Aburame Shino." Okay,_ now_ he was feeling something. He glanced towards Sakura- she seemed ecstatic to be partnered with Sasuke. He, on the other hand, seemed less so.

"Team 8 will consist of Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino." Iruka flinched when he heard two hard thuds- looking into the back row, he could see that both Naruto and Hinata had fainted, from the looks of things. Ino, still conscious, decided to take advantage of the situation and ask a question.

"Excuse me sensei- the other teams are all two guys and a girl. How come there are two girls on this team?"

Iruka was surprised she caught onto that, but tried to lie his way out of it regardless. "I've heard that the Hokage wanted to try a new team balance this year. Your team was also originally supposed to have the only kunoichi jonin sensei, but she decided not to take the job at the last minute."

Some of the boys realized that this meant that _Naruto_ had been chosen to be the only guy on an otherwise all-girls team, and a moment later Iruka could feel a lot of killing intent directed towards the poor boy. Despite the pressure, he couldn't help but smile- things seemed to be looking up for Naruto. "Team 9 is still in circulation, so Team 10 will consist of Akimichi Choji, Inuzuka Kiba, and Nara Shikamaru."

Shikamaru glanced backwards at the collapsed Naruto, apparently pitying him. "A blessing within a curse... None of his friends are on his team, but he seems to have gotten the only girls who don't hate his guts..."

Kiba, a very feral looking boy, growled quietly. "Che! Getting two girls on his team... That's a bit more than a blessing."

Choji, a very wide boy eating chips, didn't seem to share their opinions.. "This _is_ Ino we're talking about."

Said girl glared down at them. "You're right next to me, you know."

The boys quickly silenced as Iruka looked on for a moment, etching their faces into his memory. He gave a soft smile before giving his final order as a teacher to his students. "Come back here after lunch to meet up with your new teachers. Dismissed!"

Naruto wanted to eat by himself- he really did. He had planned on going over to Ichiraku's to cheer himself up. Ino had other plans, the kind where she kidnapped people and forced them to be her friends. They were sitting on the roof of one of the Academy's many wings, with another section with a lower roof adjacent to theirs. Noticeably, Sasuke was sitting in a window in said next wing, eating his lunch, and most certainly not surrounded by annoying teammates. For once, Naruto was jealous.

Ino spoke up as she took out her lunch. "So, we need to plan this out."

Naruto didn't like the sound of that, mostly because he didn't like thinking too much. "Plan... what out?"

The girl was annoyed at his apparent obliviousness. "This whole team thing, of course! If we're going to be a team, we need to decide things like our name, formations, leader, that kind of thing. My dad was in a famous team, and they did all that stuff!"

He realized that she was right- if they were a team in name only, it wouldn't be too good in the long run. She must have been thinking this through. "Huh... You have any suggestions?"

"Of course!" Her eyes lit up- Naruto should have known better. "Well, for the name, I was thinking something like Team InoNaruHina, or Team UzuHyuYama, or maybe something less obvious like Team Flameboar or something."

It was apparent that both Hinata and Naruto himself were intimidated by those names. He decided to attempt negotiations. "How about something we all have in common? Hobbies, interests... Stuff like that."

Ino seemed to like the idea. "Oh, that'll work better! That way the team name doesn't show our differences... You're smarter than I thought you were, Naruto!" The boy decided not to comment on the fact that he hadn't even thought of it that way. "Okay, I doubt you two want to name ourselves "Team Shopping" or "Team Sasuke", but aside from that I only like gossip and flowers."

Resisting the urge to comment on Ino's tastes was rather hard for Naruto, though he managed anyways. "Yeah, we're going to want a name slightly more intimidating than just 'Flowers'... My interests are training, ramen, and gardening, so I guess we have that in common."

Their attention was turned to Hinata, who took a moment to gather the courage to speak. "I... like pressing flowers, so..."

Satisfaction was very apparent in Ino's demeanor. "Great! We can be Team Gardener, then!"

Naruto was less than enthused. "I can't help but feel that we'll regret this later... It doesn't feel ninja-like."

Ino rolled her eyes knowingly. "Oh, Naruto... Did you forget about the origins of shinobi already? Farmers were a big part of the first ninja group! It's why we use kunai as weapons even though they're supposed to be digging tools."

He was honestly surprised- he must have skipped class that day. "The first ninja, huh..." He remembered because of Iruka that the Rinnegan supposedly belonged to the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of ninjutsu. "You know, I changed my mind. I'm rather liking that name. Do you mind it, Hinata?" She shook her head, being too shy to speak. He hoped that they could fix that later.

Seeing as they were still on lunch break, they decided to put off the more intricate parts of teamwork in favor of just getting to know each other better. Ino was honestly surprised at Naruto's green-thumb, though he was the first to admit that it had taken a while to get the hang of it. Ino's family ran a flower shop, so she naturally had to pitch it to her teammates for their future needs. Hinata offered to take any flowers of Naruto's that were getting ready to die and press them, which he gladly accepted.

When it came time to be picked up, Naruto was unable to hide his surprise when Jiraiya walked in the door. "My name's Jiraiya, and I'm here for Team 8!"

"Y-you! Why are you my team's sensei?"

Ino hit him over the head, and he barely managed to keep his sunglasses on. "You idiot! That's _the_ Jiraiya-sama! Do you have any idea how lucky we are?" She suddenly switched back to a much nicer demeanor while speaking to Jiraiya. "We're Team 8, sir!"

Jiraiya grinned at her personality. "Good to see you have fire, you're gonna need it. Come on now, huphup!"

Jiraiya took them out to a restaurant, which seemed like a surprising move until they saw Team 10 at another table. Naruto was slightly down that they weren't at his preferred place of Ichiraku Ramen, but since he wasn't paying, he went with it. The old man was quite happy to see that the three of them were getting along just fine, so they merely had casual chat instead of 'the usual', whatever that was.

Naruto eventually got tired of Ino's servile attitude to the old pervert, however. "Just what is it that's so great about you anyways?"

Jiraiya gave a mock-impression of being hurt. "Your ignorance _wounds_ me, Naruto! I am one of the Legendary Three Ninja, the great Toad Sage, and world famous novelist, Jiraiya the Gallant! I studied under our current Hokage, taught the Fourth Hokage for years, aaaaand..." There was a long pause, at which the three younger ninja were held at attention.

"...and?"

"...and I was the one who taught the last ninja with Naruto's 'condition'."

Naruto was quite alarmed at those words, while Ino and Hinata were merely confused. "Wh-what do you mean by that?"

He smirked, as if he had accomplished some magnificent plan. "Well, pass my test and I'll tell you!"

This only made Naruto more irritated. "What test?"

"The one that determines whether you stay with me or go back to the Academy."

Hinata was surprisingly the first to speak. "Why do we need another test? If the first one's not good enough... Why give it?" Naruto couldn't help but agree, considering all the trouble he went through to pass it.

Jiraiya toned down the drama and began speaking plainly again. "Well, that test was more generic. It was meant to see if you could _physically_ be a ninja. This next test is a field test to see if you can _mentally_ be a ninja. I'll give you more details at the training ground tomorrow." He handed out some sheets of paper that gave details on the where and when, accompanied by cartoony drawings of frogs. "You can do whatever you want between now and then, but I suggest that you come prepared as if for a long-term mission."

He raised his hand to catch the attention of the waitress and paid for the bill, giving her a look to be suspicious of before turning his attention back to them. "Well, I'll be off! I like to spend time everyday for book research, and it's getting towards there. Go do whatever you want, but make sure to come on time tomorrow!" With that, he got up, paid the bill, and left.

Ino dragged them to the training site that they were going to use the next day, unusually silent most of the way. Once there, she immediately let a kunai fly at a nearby tree, apparently very frustrated. "Who does he think he is?"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the question, despite how useless the gesture was. "He told us exactly who he thought he was..."

This did not lower her frustrations at all. "Yeah, but... To tell us that we might end up failing after all that..."

Naruto touched his fingers to the smooth metal on his forehead, remembering what 'all that' was to him. "...something tells me that there's more than meets the eye... I think we don't have to actually worry about failing. We should worry about the 'mental' part he was talking about."

Ino went over to the tree and picked up the kunai she threw. "Well, how do we do that?"

Hinata spoke up again, looking Ino in the eyes. "We should... continue with making our team better. If we work together... We'll beat his test! It's meant to be taken by teams, right? We should take it as a team!"

Naruto grinned at her inspirational words. "I agree! We already passed our test... Team Gardner needs to take this next one!"

The blonde girl rolled her eyes at his own words. "Try making sense sometime, Naruto... But yeah, you two are right. If this test is supposed to be designed like a longterm mission, then we should treat it like one. Let's go over our expertises and plan accordingly."

Ino wasn't a specialist in anything in particular as far as the three branches of jutsu were concerned. However, she did have 'clan jutsu', techniques that only Yamanaka clan members were allowed to know. At the moment she only knew one- the Shintenshin no jutsu, which allowed her to essentially project her spirit into someone else, abandoning her body to possess theirs. It was certainly useful, though the drawbacks were that her body was defenseless as long as the jutsu was in effect, and that any damage done to the possessed was transferred to her original body.

Hinata was second. She was a Taijutsu specialist- her style, 'Gentle Fist', specialized in damaging internal organs without leaving external marks by manipulating chakra. Naruto watched her use a palm strike on a log with his Rinnegan active and could see chakra be expelled from the strike. Apparently it only worked on things with chakra inside of them- an ordinary inanimate object would just take the blow as an ordinary palm strike.

It was her eyes that Naruto was particularly interested in, however. "Byakugan? Is that one of those Kekkei Genkai things?"

She nodded while turning away from him. "Yeah... It's a power in my eyes that allows me enhanced vision. I can see in a 360 degree field around myself, see farther than usual, as well as see through solid objects. Lastly, I can see chakra..."

Naruto noted that she seemed to be quoting a textbook, because her usual shyness had decreased. Her eyes seemed to have some similar properties to his, though the 360 degree vision was new. "Can you turn them on and off? Do they look different while you're using them?"

She was surprised by the specifics of his questions, and blushed. "Well, y-yes... Here, let me show you." She performed some handseals, meant to focus chakra more than for a particular jutsu. Suddenly, her normally blank eyes gained pupils, and the veins around her eyes began bulging, which, to Naruto, made her look just as unnatural as he himself did with the Rinnegan. A look of surprise came upon her face as she seemed to look around. "N-Naruto... Are your eyes okay?"

He mentally cursed- she had just _said_ she could see literally everything around her. "Uh, why do you ask? I said I had to wear these for a reason you know..."

She seemed hesitant to continue, yet too curious not to. "Your chakra... Most people keep it centered in their bodies when they're not using it, but there's a small stream of chakra going to your eyes... You have a doujutsu, don't you? One you... Can't turn off..."

She remained silent, looking away from Naruto physically even if she could still see him. Ino's mouth hung open, but she said nothing. Naruto knew that there was no escaping the question of what happened to his eyes this time. "...I'll show you guys, but only because I intend to make this team stick together. If I show you, you've got to promise me... we'll pass that old man's test, no matter what!"

There was more silence before they both nodded. Naruto slowly took off his sunglasses, and he could see both of their faces widen in shock at the sight of his new eyes. He watched their reactions in the silence for a minute before sighing. "I've had these eyes for all of two days now... I still don't know most of what they do, but apparently they're super-powerful."

Ino took a moment more to speak. "Naruto... That's the Rinnegan."

"I know."

"...Well, now I know why you don't mind being compared to the first ninja... What do they do?"

Naruto activated them, which startled the girls momentarily. "Well, like Hinata, I can see chakra, even through objects... As for unique abilities, I've figured out one." He placed his fingers in a cross, and with practiced ease his clone came into existence. The second field of vision disoriented him for but a moment, but the clone seemed to surprise Ino more than it did Hinata.

"Whoa, when did you learn how to create a proper clone?"

Naruto smirked. "This isn't the Academy standard, this is the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. The clone itself isn't what I wanted to show you though." He closed his eyes while the clone kept his eyes open. "Do something that I would have to see you to know you did it."

Ino thought it was an odd request, but held her hand up with two fingers extended. Hinata didn't really know what to do, so she put her index fingers together as she always did when she was nervous. The Naruto with his eyes closed spoke. "Ino has two fingers up, and Hinata is pushing her index fingers together." Ino blushed and held up two more fingers. "Now Ino has four fingers up." She reduced it to one finger. "No thanks, I'm not in the mood."

Ino was clearly impressed despite blushing. "So you can actually see what your clone sees? That's GOT to be useful for spying."

His response was to turn around, with his clone still facing them. "Not just spying- when I'm fighting, I can literally watch my own back." He was beginning to feel glad that he had shown these abilities to them, and it was showing- a smile was on his face now. "And if I make multiple clones, I can cover a 360 degree radius with my linked vision. All the clones have the same ability too, so I can watch an attack come at a clone from behind and they can dodge. Though, I'll need to actually work on that..."

The blonde girl seemed to be thinking about something as she processed this information. "If that's really the Rinnegan, this is only the tip of the iceberg... Is this what Jiraiya was talking about before? Does that mean he's actually taught someone with the Rinnegan before?"

The sage's comment returned to the forefront of Naruto's thoughts. "That old guy, Jiraiya, seems to know a lot about these eyes. If we pass his test, he'll actually teach me how to use them... That's the feeling I get." Momentarily he felt like he heard the voice in his head again, but he wasn't too sure about it.

Hinata had by now deactivated her Byakugan, but was still looking away from Naruto. "We should practice so we can pass tomorrow..."

A grin came onto Naruto's face as he turned around, putting his sunglasses back on. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

When Hinata had arrived at home that evening, the guard had told her that her father requested her presence. That was rarely a good thing. She quietly entered his office and assumed her place on a floor pillow by the door. "I'm sorry I took so long, Father."

He didn't turn to face her, instead focusing on his work. "...Why were you out so late? Team assignments shouldn't take so long."

She did her best not to bow her head in embarrassment- her father always made it sound like that everything she did was something to be ashamed of. "I was training with my new teammates so that we could work well together."

He paused in his writing. "...If I recall correctly, you still have another test to pass before you can truly call yourself teammates. Who else has been placed on this team?"

This was the part she was dreading. "The other members are Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto, with Jiraiya-sama as our instructor."

He placed his pen down, apparently giving the matter thought. "...Jiraiya is a very unconventional ninja, but also very powerful. You would do well to follow his teachings about ninjutsu, if not about how to live your life."

She gave a low bow. "Yes, Father."

"As for the Yamanaka girl... She must be Inoichi's daughter. She will be a valuable resource on missions, the Yamanaka clan specializes in the human mind, as opposed to our specialization on the body."

She again bowed. "I will keep that in mind, Father."

He was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "...Uzumaki... That is a name I have not heard in a long time. It is a name I did not want to hear again."

Hinata could swear she detected emotion in her father's voice- something other than mild disdain for everything, at any rate. "Father...?"

He glanced over his shoulder, and she could see that his usual hard stare had softened. "Hinata... You may leave. Don't disappoint me further."

She had no idea if that meant he was disappointed right now, but it was better than being outright told he was disappointed again, especially since he seemed more sad than angry. "Y-yes, Father."

**End of chapter 3**

**Chapter notes**

Length to write: Sorry, I'm just bad at keeping to a schedule..

Teams: Normally I'd place Kiba on Team 7 to replace Naruto, which was exactly why I used Shino- to challenge myself. Also, Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru go together.

Ino's competence- normally I like to portray Ino as incompetent and then change her how I want to, which really isn't canon- she's about as competent as Sakura, just less intelligent and thus having better skills. I've made it so she's motivated to follow in her father's footsteps, which is why she knows more about actually being a ninja than others might. As for her stereotypical girliness, that's just a bad habit of mine- I ramp up known character traits to make up for lack of character depth.

Naruto's feelings- He's honestly just out of it. Once he's himself again, he'll be back to hating Sasuke and trying to woo Sakura, if he hasn't already fallen for Ino/Hinata.

Hiashi- Yes, I'm going with the horrible father route. It _is_ canon, after all. Noticeably, I'm going to be taking a very different route with his characterization than I normally do.


End file.
